The Spanish succumbed to his ‘black beast’: Vallecano Ray. The people of Madrid conquered perica land and won 0-1 thanks to a solitary goal from Sergi Guardiola that returned the joys after a long time and filled with doubts a team that has not yet managed to pass the 40-point barrier.
Vicente Moreno knew that it would not be an easy match against a coach who has the measure taken for him. Andoni Iraola arrived at the RCDE Stadium having won in the previous four games in which he faced the blue and white team on the Rayo bench: two in the Second Division, a friendly and the first round clash in Vallecas.
However, the rayista bad streak made him look like an affordable rival: they had not won for LaLiga since December 2021. More than four months without adding three to a Espanyol released from responsibilities, already practically saved and with Europe quite far away.
Moreno returned to the defense of four after the good attempt with five behind in Madrid. Although the good match against the colchoneros at the Wanda was not even nearly repeated this time. The heavy procedure of the first half left as balance, on the contrary, a deserved disadvantage. The manager was Sergi Guardiola, who took advantage of a colossal mistake by Diego López to score the 0-1 on the brink of rest.
He immediately tried to shake off the parakeet team with a good combination of Vilhena and Raúl De Tomás, but the striker failed in his attempt to look for the far post and touched the vertical to send it out.
For the second part, Moreno tried to get his hands on it, giving entry to Embarba instead of a battered Keidi Bare, who hurt himself in a jump. But not even for those did the script change.
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The solidity of Rayo Vallecano remained for the complement, having the clearest options and controlling an impotent Espanyol that got on the nerves of the 11,000 fans in Cornellà. In fact, those of Iraola had the clearest of the second part, with a shot by Álvaro García that furiously crashed into the right post defended by Diego López.
Espanyol never found the way, which gave Rayo the possibility of returning to victory in LaLiga and thus continue scaring the ghost of the red zone. For its part, the catalans reaped the second consecutive fall and they continue sailing in no man’s land with their 39 points. One more week without being able to increase that figure.